Sidebar 1: Alvin Chee and Vinshine Audio
LAiV's sole worldwide dealer is Alvin Chee of Vinshine Audio in Singapore. I've known and worked with Alvin since 2020, when I reviewed the original Denafrips Terminator and Ares II DACs. I can say without reservation that he is one of the nicest, most straight-talking, truth-telling, word-keeping, deliver-on-time audio people I've met.
I felt badly for Mr. Chee when, in 2024, Denafrips pulled its products from Vinshine and began selling direct (footnote 1). I felt bad because, while Denafrips makes high-quality, high-value converters that I have used at great length, I am skeptical that they can sustain the kind of marketing, customer support, and informed advocacy Chee provided. Chee has shown me and the rest of the world how to properly sell Chinese-made hi-fi to English-speaking customers.
I was sad for Alvin Chee, but now I am glad, because LAiV's new µDAC showed me that he was prepared to accept and adapt to change by upping his game with a new line of products that promise to move affordable R-2R ladder DACs into a new, brighter future. Bravo, Alvin.—Herb Reichert
Footnote 1: See vinshine.audio/post/a-new-chapter-farewell-to-denafrips.
Footnote 1: See vinshine.audio/post/a-new-chapter-farewell-to-denafrips.
